CAFTA Passes - How the West Was Lost

Wrote Paul Craig Roberts in Counterpunch (July 27 2005):

"...the US, formerly a superpower until afflicted with "new economy" syndrome, has lost so much manufacturing capability that it can scarcely produce one submarine every two years and one aircraft carrier every five years. US manufacturing capability is so reduced and shrinking so fast that the president of the American Shipbuilding Association recently said that in the next several years "more and more manufacturing of ship components and systems will migrate to China."

And so it was imperative that Congress pass CAFTA! See article "How the West Was Lost" by Niranjan Ramakrishnan:

"Watch carefully", said the old Russian nobleman in Dr. Zhivago. "You are seeing the last half of the last cigar in Moscow!" With the CAFTA Senate vote today, I felt I was witnessing one of the last nails being hammered into the casket of twentieth century USA.

A new view of freedom from oil-dependence

Caught this on Free Speech TV (Channel 9415 on Dish Network). An optimistic view of the future -- a speech by Amory Lovins called "Winning the Oil Endgame". Read the entire speech. The key is a huge investment in energy research, as the speaker says. Some excerpts:

"First, I’d like to convey a rather terse and unusual message that over the next few decades this country can get completely off oil. Not just imported, but domestic also, if we wish, and can revitalize both its industrial, and its rural economy in a way that is profitable..."

"To do this will require about 180 billion dollars of investment. Half to retool the car, truck and plane industries, and half to build a modern bio-fuels industry. That will earn handsome returns and is financeable in the private capital market, but for the reasons I’ve just mentioned, it is well worth accelerating in a way that enhances customer choice and manages risk."

Well, that should be enought to whet your appetite. Read the speech, and also download the entire book on the subject (URL available in the full speech).

London Blasts -- Who's transforming Whom?

See article by Niranjan Ramakrishnan in today's Counterpunch: Who's being transformed -- Them or Us?

How they get away with it

To those of us wondering how Bush is able to get away with so much damage, here's a bundle of insight. An article by Scott McConnell in the American Conservative.

Also see article by Niranjan Ramakrishnan, "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" on Bush's Iraq speech of June 28.

Price of Progress

An American 'sadhu' has written about his Indian expriences. He is now 'promoting' his book in the USA. He says the old days are going away in India, TV has replaced sadhus as a way of keeping and making traditions. An interesting read.

Read the full story.